Ice fishing apparatus



Dec. 18, 1956 c. CHUTE ICE. FISHING APPARATUS Filed May 20, 1954 INVENTOR.

Cwer/s 67/07: 60040.1 W44 i ATTGRIVEYS United States PatentO for; FISHING APPARATUS Curtis Chute, Wayzata, Application May 20, 1954, Serial No. 431,188

1 Claim. or. 43-17 This invention relates generally to equipment used in the sport of fishing through the ice and more particularly to signaling devices for indicating to the. fisherman the presence of a bite or a catch on his fishing line. 7

In the sport of ice fishing which comprises fishing through a hole in the ice layer covering the lake or other body of water fished, it is frequently desirable to leave the fishing line unattended while the fisherman warms his hands or engages in other activities. When is done it is advantageous to have some formv of signaling means associated with the line to indicate any pull on the line. However, mere visual means such as a tip-up or like device are frequently inadequate and furthermore such means are considered illegal in many areas.

It is accordingly the primary object of my invention to provide an apparatus for ice fishing adapted to hold the fishing line and give a momentary audible buzzing signal upon any pull being exerted on the line.

Another object of my invention is to provide an improved ice fishing apparatus adapted to be mounted on the ice adjacent the fishing hole and having a line holding means associated with a signaling device mounted on the post to indicate the presence of a fish on the line, said apparatus, however, remaining unchanged in appearance after the signal.

Still another object is to provide an ice fishing apparatus adapted to hold the fishing line and audibly signal a catch thereon which apparatus is readily collapsible for storage and economical to manufacture and operate.

With these and other objects inview my invention broadly comprises an elongated post adapted to be mounted in an upright position on the ice, a buzzer housing mounted on the post, a buzzer mechanism in the housing, battery means, an electric circuit connectin g' thebattery means to the buzzer mechanism, a master switch in said circuit, spring means biasing the switch toward an open condition, an actuator arm on the switch for closing the switch against the bias of thespring means, said arm extending outwardly from the housing and a -sub- .st antial distance therebeyond and having means atqits extended end for attaching a fishing line thereto.

The above mentioned and still additional objects will be brought to light during the course of the following specification, reference being made to the accompanying drawing, in which-- Fig. 1 is a side elevation of my improved ice fishing apparatus in operative position on the ice with the fishing line attached thereto.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged detail view of the buzzer box and upper end of the post with the latter being in section to show the disposition of the dry cell batteries therein and with the perforated cover removed from the box to show the buzzer mechanism and switch means.

Fig. 3 is a partial vertical section through the buzzer box taken along line 3-3 of Fig. 2.

Referring now more particularly to the drawing, reference characters will be used to denote like parts or structural features in the different views. The device,

2,774,168 C V ret nt ao ra ses h wn in, pe ng po n -1 is ppor d We? the ice layer I on the body of fvvater'W for fishing thro' the hole H: .It comprises gener ll an upright suppo W 10, a buzzerboxll nraunteaoa the support 10, a buzzer actuating arnijlz' extending from the buzzer Box, an a fishing line 13 depending from the arm 12.and downwardly through'the hole H. p 7 p The support 10 comprises upper and low'ei tubular sections 14 and 15 rigidly uf t'ed end to end. The lower end of the section 15 iisj cappe'd with aspire 15g: 'exte ing therefrom in be driven into the ice I, as shown, :6 maintain, the support in an upright position. boir' 11 is rigidly mounted on the section 1 4, the latter b cut away so that the, interior of the section is inopen communication with tlie interior of the box. The in terior of section '14 above'the member 11 an elongated cylindrical chamber 16 for liolding dry cell batterles 17 used to furnish elti frio powef'to'the buzzer ni cha ni sm to be subsequently described, The upper end of the section 14 is provided with a removable cap 19 with a spiral spring 19 disposed under compression between the cap and the end face of the pl blniost battery to urge the batteries downwardly in'the'chamber 16. j

The bu z' z'er box 11 and its contents will now be described in detail. The is of a relatively fiat Square design mountedon the post 1'0 with its narrowest s'ide' 'ifi alignment therewith. For purposes of reference the 'wall denoted at 21 will be referred to as the inner side wall of the boX, the number 22 indicates the outer s'ide will], and the numbers '23, 24, ahdZS, 'r speetivl' denote the top, front and bottom Walisfliiof. The Walls 21, 23 and 25 are integrallyun-ited and are rigidly aispos awi n respect to the pest section 1 4. The nner si e wan 122 is perforated, as shown ii -Fig.1, and is stiaably removable being held in place by slide forming flanges 26 and afset screw27. v

Disposed within the x 11 is a buzzer circuit o erated electrically rom the batteries 17 and a master swath mechanism for opening and closing the enct it, said mach anism being associated with the arm 12 for operation thereby. The Switch m chanism be first 'deSCiibH by referring to Fig. 2. There is a base member mounted crosswise on the bottom wall 25 in the'po'sitiofi shownl inverted u' shap'ed bra'eket '30 is pivoted-fats at 31, to the member 29 for forward and backward swinging movement on a path between the side walls of firebox. An elongated tubular socketmembe'r '32 is mounted on the cross portion at the upper end of bracket 30. This nrenrber forms'a socket for receiving and firmly holding the inner end of arm 12,"said arm extending into the pea through an opening 33'prbvided in th'e wall 24. opening 33 is'sufiiciently large to allow the arm lzcoiisiderable vertical play. i

At the opposite end from arm 12, the member 32 rigidly carries a hook .35 over which fastened the upper -end ofa rspiral tension sprin"g 36.' The 'lower'end arm.

spring 36 is secured by eye 37 mounted for swivel movement on the end of adjustment screw 38 threaded through bottom wall 25 of the box. Any suitable means, such as lateral projection 39 on base 29, may be used to limit rearward movement of the member 32 about pivot 31 under tension of spring 36. By adjustment of screw 38 the tension of spring 36 may be varied to govern the amount of downward pressure necessary on arm 12 to move the member 32 forwardly about its pivot 31.

A spindle 41a is secured between opposing sides of the bracket 30 and is held in place by the screw 41 extending snugly therethrough. The spindle and screw 41 are suitably insulated from the bracket 30 by insulating collars 4112. A flat spiral spring 42 has its inner end connected to the spindle and circles therearound with its distal end portion 43 extending flatly forward over bottom wall 25.

It is an important feature of my invention ,that the to eitend upwardly u'rider'the 'spring'portion' 43' which serves as a contact. Both the spring 42 and the post 44 are part of thebuzzer circuit. This circuit includes a spring contact 46 engaging the terminal ofith'e lowerrnost battery 17 with suitable circuit forming'wire' con- 7 nections 47 with a buzzer mechanism'havingi'a conventiorial interrupter, asfdesignated generally a't'48.' The members 42 and ,44 are' in the circuitso that when they a'rein contact the circuit is closed'arid when they are apart the circuit is open..

' Theopening and CIOSmg Of this contact is eifected' by movement of bracket 30 about'its pivot 31 and this in turn is governed by movement of the arm 12. There is a slight dip or hook 50 at; the extended end of arm 12 overwhich the line is draped, as in Fig. l, or tied. The

bracket 30 along with its socket member 32 and spiral spring 42form a masterswitch inthe buzzer circuit. Theswitch is normally open under tension of spring 36 which yieldably holds bracket 30 in its rearmost position ,with contact 43 separated from the post 44. 7 When there isqsufl'icient downward force on the arm 12 to overcome the tension of spring 36 the bracket swings forwardly closing the contact to close the circuit to the buzzer 48 and sound the same. When the force or pressure on arm 12 is removed the switch will return to its open position under-tension of spring 36 to terminate the sound. Obviously the amount of pull necessary onarm 12 to close the switch will be determined by the longitudinal adjustment of screw .38. r 7

The contact between bracket and the post 44 is formed of a flat spiral spring so as to be yieldable when the arm 12 is bowed downwardly any considerable distance under pull of the line 13. Furthermore, the arm 12 is preferably of'a light'resilient metal so as to render the effect of its weight on spring 36 negligible and also to allow it to bow downwardly under intense pull on the -arm;12 will cause itto bow downwardly. sounding the buizzen; However, when the arm'hasbeen depressed a considerable distance, as .will occur when a,.fish. has actually taken the bait, continued pull on the line will cause it to slipotf the end of the arm and the arm will re- .turn to its original position .under action. of spring 36 toopen the, contact 43 and terminate the sound. Thus ,while the fish is nibbling the line will stay over the arm for, continuous intermittent signaling and the signal will not terminate until after the catch. a.

Forpurposes of disclosure I have shown the line 13 attached to post 44 and then draped directly over the line holder 50 in the arm 12. It may be preferred, however, to make a loop in the line to place over the hook and then leaving considerable slack in the line between the hook and the lines attachment to the post. This will assure the presence of sufficient line to be let out when a fish has been caught. 7

While socket member 32 is adapted to hold the arm 12 firmly during operation of the device,'the arm may be removed therefrom for storage. A pair of eyelets 51 are mounted at longitudinally spaced points along post 10 for receiving and holdingarm 12 in the stored position, as shown in broken lines in Fig. 1. A pair of rigid structure as disclosed, provided that such modifications come within the spirit and scope of the appended claim.

Having now therefore fully illustrated and described my invention, whatI claim to be new and desire to protect by Letters Patent is:

In an ice fishing apparatus, an elongated support adapted to be mounted in upright position on the ice, a housing mounted on the support, an. audible signal mechanism disposed within the housing, an elongated rod pivoted to the housing for up and down movement and extending therefrom at rig-ht angles to thesupportfor sounding the signal mechanism as said rod is moved downwardly, and switch means connecting the rod to the housing allowing continued downward movement of the rod about its pivot after the signal mechanism has been sounded, said switch means comprisinga fixed contact mounted on the housing, a bracket movable with said rod and pivotally mounted on the housing for swinging movement toward and away from the fixedcontact, and a movable contact mounted on the bracket and adapted to engage the fixed contact as the bracket swings toward thefixed contact, said movable contact being of a'yieldable material to maintain engagement with the fixed contact with continued movement of the bracket toward said fixed contact. 

